BySPENCER CUSTODIO |October 7, 2016

Last October, the refusal by Cal State Fullerton math professor Alain Bourget to use a textbook authored by his boss in the math department revealed inherent conflicts in how college texts are chosen. But despite an attempt at reform, little has changed.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer is proposing the county pay Irvine Councilman Jeffrey Lalloway $190,000 to be his policy advisor, which is potentially controversial given that Irvine and the county often have opposing interests.

In May, Mayor Miguel Pulido curiously recused himself from a routine vote on a permits for the local restaurant chain Mariscos Hector. But despite many social media accounts of the mayor's relationship with the chain's front man, his public disclosures show nothing.

The ban follows a Voice of OC series that revealed lavish gifts given to a high-level district official by district contractors. District trustees say the ban is a model for other community college districts to follow.

Council members battled over whether they should release the city attorney's legal opinion on Councilwoman Christina Shea's controversial, and perhaps illegal, consulting work for KIA Motors America. The council ultimately chose not to release the opinion.

High-level employees of Dana Point Harbor and the city of Dana Point took advantage of a poorly documented employee discount program for room stays that had no approval or oversight from the Board of Supervisors.

Planning Commissioner Rob Williams is facing possible ouster because he's refused recuse himself from voting on a hotel development owned by Hollywood producer Steve Oedekerk. Williams has financial ties to a competing project.

Judge David O Carter this week demonstrated real leadership on combating homelessness by getting out into the field and challenging county officials to focus public resources on meeting immediate needs of riverbed residents. Yet will this rare focus last? Could receivership of federal and state funds coming into the County of Orange be on the horizon?

Rashad Al-Dabbagh, who lives in Anaheim and is the founder/director of the Arab American Civic Council, criticizes a decision last week by the U.S. Census Bureau that the 2020 Census would not include a new “Middle Eastern or North African” category in its race and ethnicity data collection for the 2020 Census.

Orange County supervisors step up their attack on public comment at their regular public meetings by pushing taxpayers to the end of their meeting agenda. The change means offering public comment to county supervisors will take hours of waiting.